In 1979, after two years in office, President Jimmy Carter faced a series of crushing challenges: a deepening energy crisis, soaring inflation, rising oil and gas prices, and unemployment. Voters’ dissatisfaction with his leadership grew. Then, dozens of Americans were taken hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran. Carter’s efforts to free them would consume his final year in office, and by 1980, his chances at a second term looked bleak.

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